


Your Love Leaves a Mark, but Never a Scar

by Branithar



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Blind Character, Dom/sub, Enemies to Lovers, Lovers To Enemies, M/M, Magic, Sad Luke, Spies & Secret Agents, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:53:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28910394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Branithar/pseuds/Branithar
Summary: Luke is a new agent in the Order of the Bronze Mask on a top secret mission that even his teammates can't know about. In between stealing from celebrities, fighting monsters and laying pissed-off ghosts to rest, he must do something even deadlier: make Ashton Irwin fall in love with him.
Relationships: Luke Hemmings/Ashton Irwin, Michael Clifford/Calum Hood
Kudos: 3





	Your Love Leaves a Mark, but Never a Scar

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Half-hearted by Hands Like Houses.

“Michael?”

The blond man turned at Luke's call, face lighting up. “Hey! Luke, right?” 

Relieved to have found one of his teammates, Luke nodded. “Are the others-”

“Hey, Calum!” Michael shouted, fangs glinting in the sickly subway light. 

Luke turned to see who he was calling over, a man wearing an ornate suit with what looked like a cape over one shoulder. Calum Hood. People moved out of his way as he came over, mindful of the end of his cane as it tapped across the brickwork. 

“This is Luke,” Michael introduced when he reached them. 

Calum faced Luke, pale eyes meeting his despite not seeing them. He frowned and ran his fingers through his bleached curls, then handed Michael his cane so he could do it with both hands. 

“Look at me,” he said when Luke glanced at Michael. He gave a satisfied nod when he was done. “Just needed your eyes.” 

“Right.” 

“You don’t have to keep looking at me now.” 

“Sorry.” 

Of course, Calum’s file had detailed his ability to get in people’s heads to see and hear everything they saw and heard. Luke hadn’t expected it to be so… unnoticeable, though. Even knowing that Calum was in there, he hadn’t been able to feel anything out of place. 

“Have you guys worked with Ashton Irwin before?” he asked as they waited for their last teammate scanning the crowd around them. 

“Twice,” Michael answered. 

“What’s he like?”

“Like nobody else.” 

Luke laughed nervously. “Not really sure what anyone else is like, to be honest.”

“Is this your first job?”

Luke nodded.

“Yes or no?” Calum asked. 

“Yes. Sorry.” Luke stared at his shoes. Shiny black boots with heels. He’d dressed expensively, but he hadn’t wanted to overdo it for the sake of first impressions. Apparently he was fucking it all up even without wearing a skirt too short or a top too sheer. 

Calum inhaled deeply. “Here he is.” 

Luke looked around. “Where?” 

Calum said nothing for a moment. “Above and behind us. He’s looking at us.” Calum turned and faced the row of dirty windows overlooking the platform and Luke did the same, spotting a figure in one of them. 

“Is he gonna come down?” he wondered, raising a hand in greeting. 

“He’ll find us on the train. Don’t get too starstruck,” Michael teased.

As if on cue, a horn blared hauntingly from the tunnel. Luke watched the train emerge, whistle blowing as the rattling slowed. When he looked back at the windows, Ashton was gone. 

People made way for Calum as they boarded, Michael leading them down the carriage to find an empty booth as the train started moving again with a long groan. They’d boarded near the front, but the carriages stretched around a corner far further than one would expect on a normal train. Luke wondered if the front could even be reached from inside a carriage, or if they continued on endlessly. Maybe they looped and if he walked far enough he’d come back to where he started. 

“Here’s one.” Michael slid open a door and stood back for Calum. 

The world outside the grimy windows was dark. With the light from inside the booth illuminating every speck of dust, it was impossible to see what was outside, whether they were still underground or out in the open. 

As they sat, Ashton Irwin walked in, sliding the door shut behind him. Obviously, Luke had seen his file. He knew what Ashton looked like. But seeing him in person was a whole different nightmare. 

For tonight’s job, he’d chosen to wear dress pants with a tucked-in red button-up shirt, the top few buttons undone to give a view Luke pretended to not notice. His hair was neatly slicked back, sharp gaze unobstructed as he eyed Luke up. He was fucking beautiful and, unfortunately, his dark reputation only made him sexier. 

Luke gave a tight smile before fixing his eyes on the table between himself and Michael and Calum. 

“Luke Hemmings,” he greeted as he took a seat beside him, setting a briefcase on the table.

“Yeah.” 

“Good to meet you.”

“You too.” 

Ashton stared at him for a moment before turning to the others. “You found me on the platform.”

“Smelled you,” Calum explained, “Took a bit of searching to find your eyes, though.” 

Ashton nodded.

“You’ve done heists before, ay?” Michael asked Ashton. 

“‘Course. You?”

“A couple. Never at a party, though. Lotta eyes.” 

“They won’t be looking at us,” Ashton told him, opening the briefcase to reveal their hardware for the job, “Especially not during speeches.” 

“Is that when we’ll take the ledger?” Luke asked, accepting the earpiece and masterkey Ashton handed him. 

“No. Security will be watching it more closely when everyone else is distracted,” he explained, “They’ll relax when Beyoncé’s in her room afterwards.” 

“Security will clear out for the five minutes she’s in there,” Michael said, “We won’t have long, but I can sneak past one person.” 

“But can you sneak past _Beyoncé?_ ” Calum wondered. 

The job itself was relatively simple: steal Beyoncé’s ledger and give it to Tilda Swinton (“You stop questioning it after a while,” Michael told Luke). Luke’s role was small since it was his first real job outside of training: once Michael had the ledger he’d pass it on to Luke, then Luke would get it to Ashton. Easy peasy. 

Ashton gave Luke a lot of long looks that he tried not to meet as they went over the plan. His expression seemed thoughtful and Luke could only guess what he was thinking about. A particularly penetrating gaze was interrupted when the conductor came to check their tickets. 

The booth door slid open, the light above them flickering as the conductor leaned in to look at them. At least, that’s what Luke assumed it was doing as it turned to each of them one at a time before a bony gloved hand emerged from between the folds of its cloak and it breathed a soft groan. Luke often wondered if, under the conductor hat and all the fabric, there was a person at all, or just air and dust. 

“How are the kids?” Michael asked, handing it his and Calum’s tickets. 

The conductor sighed as it left, sliding the door shut behind it.

“The conductor has kids?” Luke asked. 

Michael shrugged. “Just trying to make conversation.” 

Journeys on the train were sixty four minutes with no stops in between boarding and getting off. Michael said that he’d made many trips from Tokyo to cities across the world, always getting to his destination in just over an hour. When they reached LA, Luke glanced into the booth next to theirs and noted that the couple who’d been in there when they left HQ was now gone, replaced by a mother and her three kids. 

“You guys been to LA before?” Ashton asked as they got off the train.

Luke shook his head as Michael and Calum said no, then remembered to say no as well. 

“Me and Calum get a lotta jobs around Japan, mainly,” Michael explained, “America’s more for newbies, I feel like.”

Ashton nodded, heading to the stairs out of the subway station. “Even the hauntings here aren’t a big deal. If something needs specialist skills, there’s usually someone local they can call about it, so the Order doesn’t need to get involved in threats.”

They emerged into a busy street lined with bright lights fending off the night. 

“Paid jobs, though…” 

The party was as over-the-top extravagant as Luke would expect from America’s celebrity class. While Calum looked classy in his gold-embroidered cape and Michael looked stylishly rebellious in his artfully distressed-and-patched-up jacket, Luke felt way underdressed, his pale silk shirt and black dress pants suddenly dull and tacky compared to the ornate outfits around them. 

“Here.” 

Luke froze as Ashton undid a button on his shirt and opened it up to show off more of his chest. 

“Let’s get some champagne.” 

Luke felt slightly childish for needing his presence, but Ashton stayed at his side while they checked out the building, comparing it to the maps they’d memorised. As Beyoncé gave her speech about celebrity stuff, they got into position. Calum told the team the codes he'd seen security punch in on various keypads and guided them through the building, checking for guards in every room and hallway as they went. 

As Luke hid in a room somewhere between Beyoncé’s room and Ashton's exit, he wondered what the mansion was like when there wasn’t a party going on. 

“There’s probably always a party,” Michael replied when Luke voiced his thought, “Like maybe they’ll take tomorrow off to clean up after tonight, but then someone else will throw another one in a couple of days.” 

“It’d be weird to be here when there’s not a party,” Luke said, “Empty.” 

“There’s probably people coming and going all the time,” Michael replied, “Lotsa stealable stuff in this part of the mansion.” 

“Beyoncé’s on her way,” Calum said.

“Can we call her the eagle?” Michael asked.

Calum sighed. “The eagle is on her way to the nest.”

“Nice.”

“A guard looks like he’s about to leave her room. The nest.” 

“On it.” Static buzzed in their earpieces for a moment while Michael crept into her room. “Okay, I’m in.”

“Egg’s behind the painting.” 

“ _You’re_ an egg. And there’s no safe behind the- oh wow, it fell out when I touched it.” Michael was quiet for a moment. “Is this it?”

“Yep. Also, Beyoncé’s right outside.”

“ _Shit._ ” There was more static, this time for longer.

“Open your door, Luke,” Calum said. 

Luke opened it, a cloud of mist pouring in and reforming into Michael. 

“Here,” Michael huffed as he held out the ledger, a plain-looking thumb drive. 

Luke took it. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just needa catch my breath.” 

“Tilda’s outside,” Calum noted. 

“Right, on my way.” Luke checked the hallway before stepping out of the room. 

“I’m watching you,” Calum assured him, “Nobody’s around from here to the stairs.” 

Luke headed out, ducking into rooms whenever Calum let him know someone was coming. He’d nearly made it, could _see_ Ashton waiting for him near a back door when Calum told him to hide _now._ Luke unlocked the nearest door and hurried in. 

“He saw you.”

“Shit.” He looked around the room, some kind of office, but there was nowhere to hide as a guard walked in, pausing when he saw Luke. 

“What are you doing in here?”

Luke put his hands up defensively. “I, uh, got lost?”

The guard scowled and gripped a handful of Luke’s shirt. “No you didn’t.” 

The guard swung at Luke’s cheek and all his combat training left his brain. The guard punched him in the gut and let him fall to the floor, reaching for his walkie talkie.

“Fuck, wait.” Luke looked up at the guard and reached into his head, letting a tear fall. 

“Oh my god.” The guard’s expression softened. “Oh god, I’m so sorry, here…”

Luke let the guard help him off the ground, hunching in pain. 

“Shit, I don’t know why I did that.”

“It’s okay,” Luke told him, “I’m fine.” 

“Where were you going?” the guard asked, slipping off his jacket and putting it around Luke’s shoulders, “I’ll make sure nobody tries to stop you again. Do you want me to walk you home? You should lie down.” 

“Is he serious?” Michael asked. 

“I just needed to be alone for a minute,” Luke lied, “It’s quiet back here.” 

The guard nodded understandingly. “There’s a couch out here, come on.” He put an arm around Luke’s shoulders and led him out. “Do you need anything? Water?”

Luke shook his head as the guard set him down on the couch. “Just don’t tell anyone I’m here? I don’t wanna get in trouble, I just needed a minute.” 

“Of course. Have a good night.” 

“Thank you.” Luke watched him leave before sitting up and seeing Ashton coming out of another room. “Why didn’t you help? He nearly beat the shit out of me.” 

“Got the ledger?” 

Luke huffed and pulled it out. 

“You should get back to the party,” Ashton advised as he took it. 

“Alright.” 

Calum was a lot more careful about leading him back safely and Michael had a glass of champagne ready when he found him. 

“Mission accomplished.” 

“Nearly fucked it up,” Luke grumbled.

“Good thing you’ve got that mind thing you do,” Michael replied, not disagreeing. 

“Ashton woulda got the ledger back,” Calum assured as he approached them, “He’s probably heaps used to plan Bs. Sometimes shit just doesn’t work out like you wanted.”

Luke stared glumly into his champagne flute. 

“I’m gonna go find some horse divorces,” Michael said, “You want anything, Cal?” 

“I’ll come.”

“Think I’m gonna head off to the hotel.” Luke gestured to his cheek. “Put some ice on this.” 

“See ya around,” Michael said with a smile. 

“Oh, by the way,” Calum added, “Your cologne stinks.” 

Luke stared, waiting for him to laugh, but Calum just turned and left, Michael giving a shrug and following him. 

As far as hotels went, the one booked for the team seemed fancy. Luke’s stuff, which he’d sent ahead before the job as per procedure, was waiting by the dresser, but he ignored it in favour of flopping down on the ridiculously soft bedsheets and groaning miserably. Room service brought him an ice pack, a plate of plain heated tortillas and a bowl of noodles too classy for the current mood. 

It was hard to keep the ice pack on his face while he ate, so Luke abandoned it on the bedside table as he alternated between bites of noodles and tortillas, the TV showing some crime drama he’d vaguely heard of. He brushed his teeth when he was done, his great teeth being his only asset at the moment, then laid back on the bed with the ice pack, contemplating ordering more tortillas and eating until he went into a sad food coma. 

Before he could pick up the phone to bother room service again, someone knocked on the door. Luke sighed and got up to answer it, wondering if it was a teammate letting him know he’d forgotten something important. He nearly dropped the ice pack when he opened it and saw Ashton. He _did_ drop it when Ashton pushed him back into the room, expression dark as he kicked the door closed behind him and slammed Luke against the wall. 

“Sorry about earlier,” Ashton breathed, tracing a thumb over Luke’s cheek. 

Luke opened his mouth to say something, about this being a weird way to apologise, maybe, but no sound came out. 

Ashton yanked him away from the wall and pushed him onto his bed, smirking at the way Luke’s legs spread automatically. He pulled a couple of condoms and a small bottle of lube out of his pocket, holding them up for Luke to see. 

“Yeah?”

Luke nodded quickly. Seducing Ashton Irwin and ending his fifteen year career would be easier than he’d thought, apparently.

**Author's Note:**

> I run tran5rightsos on Tumblr! Feel free to send asks about this or any of my other 5sos fics!


End file.
